Comment by Tim Spagnola on August 16, 2011 at 7:57pm

I think those are some real valid questions you raised Kirby- and ones that I think most are still trying to 'figure out'. I think for question 5 a good corporate blog would be a blend of both, but again I am not sure there are many that got that one 'figured out' yet either. So what is your take on G+ thus far? or does that need to wait till Enterprise edition is released? Thanks for sharing.

Comment by Courtney Hunt on August 17, 2011 at 9:39am

I agree with Tim - those are some great questions. Ultimately, the two should be in alignment, and if they're not I suspect it's more of a strategic/cultural issue than a philosophical one regarding how best to leverage social media for multiple external purposes. I can think of many organizations where the customer brand and the employer brand are in sync, which has to make messaging and interacting from each perspective much easier.

 

I've recently written a post entitled "Social Media and Recruiting 101: Overview and Recommendations." I invite you to highlight your questions and share a link back to this post there.

 

Jerry Carducci also wrote a guest post on social media and recruiting a couple of months ago that may be valuable as well.

 

Thanks for the great food for thought!

Comment by Paul Alfred on August 17, 2011 at 10:10am

Great insight Kirby... I think that we need to take a step back decide what tools you want to use - understand how those tools are used define how you want to use them, cast a social media net then build the bridges between each channel - keeping in mind that each community needs it's own avatar or attitude as it relates to that SM community. If you can do this well from a recruiting perspective I think you're on your way. You can then add other channels as you grow. Perhaps your blog could allow others to provide their strategy with respect to working as a Social Media Recruiter. I don't separate Social Media and Social Recruiting I merge the expressions as a real function.

Comment by Suresh on August 17, 2011 at 11:39am

Interesting topic and I suspect most companies are still figuring it out. I would definitely keep the Message Consistent in both Social Media and Recruiting. I saw an example with Zappos, who conveyed that messsage of Customer Satisfaction into Recruiting as well. Recruiting is an extension of the Brand and deviations from who you are as a company, affects brand and recruiting.

Comment by Chris Russell on August 17, 2011 at 12:13pm

In the end recruiting is still a very human process. You'll get out of social recruiting only what you put into it. The point of it is to be human. If you cant do that, or dont have the time to invest, social recruiting is not for you.

Comment by Anthony M. Morrison on August 17, 2011 at 12:22pm

Good post Kirby, and good follow-up comments, too. 

As I read your post and everyone's comments, it seemed to me that the common theme between corporate social media strategy and social recruiting is "customerization." Social media is about people.  Social media platforms make it possible for effective, dynamic, social engagement en masse using web-based and mobile technologies. The holy grail of marketing is customized, or personalized, marketing to engage relevant customers.  The ultimate objective of social recruiting is to engage relevant, highly qualified candidates. Whether you are marketing your company's brand, product, employer brand, or open position, you want to engage your customers and candidates.  You do not want just to push your content or ads in front of as many customers as possible, rather you want to find the one's that will listen to what you have to say and genuinely be interested.  This requires that you have the ability to listen to them and learn about them and their preferences.

When you enable selective sharing of content, actively listen to your community, and respond purposefully for a mutually beneficial outcome, then you have achieved customerization.

Comment by Heinz Bartesch on August 18, 2011 at 12:59pm

Well, having been at recruitment since '82 (yes, I'm that old), I fully realize that a true recruiter never really stops recruiting, although there are times and places when you need to put recruiting on a shelf (funerals for instance) Call me an old dog if you will, but I find that social media is for social activities and social recruiting (LinkedIn) for RECRUITING and like to keep the two separate. When I'm on FB, I'm not thinking about my technical searches and that's the way I like it. Recruiting on FB for me is like working the crowd at a wedding. It's OK to tell people what you do and if/when they want to approach you, that's another thing.

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